the adventures of jaw surgery

This blog is meant to record my long and treacherous path to a perfectly functioning smile. When I learned that I would have to have my jaw broken, I scoured the
internet for stories of others who had already undergone the same thing. To my surprise, there weren't many complete descriptions of the whole process. Hopefully, this will provide people in similar situations with details, facts, and stories that will maybe help them face their own surgery. Mostly, though, this is a way for me to express, vent, and entertain myself for the duration of this ordeal. Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Almost at the 6 month mark!

So, it's been a while since I've posted anything and I finally have some time to write because of Thanksgiving break. I went back to school about a day after I could start chewing again. It was rough not having my parents around to make me good food, and my typical school diet consists of Taco Bell and Subway. My stomach did NOT like me the first month or so after the surgery. First of all, it was not used to having to digest much of anything at all. I ate very small and mushy meals for two whole months...solid food was a shock. Also, my body was not used to eating full portions. I lost 20 pounds during the 2 months I didn't eat because I didn't eat much at all. These plus the fact that before the surgery, I chewed super super slow because my teeth didn't touch, and was suddenly eating things really quickly caused some problems. I felt nauseous and had stomach problems almost all the time. I didn't ease into it like I probably should have. I was starving for real food! But if I had to do it again, I would probably start by gradually increasing the solidity of the foods I was eating. But oh well. I still have more stomach problems than before the surgery, but I think I can attribute that to all the stress I've been dealing with this semester. It was hard to go from laying around all day, doing nothing, to just jump back into my usual schedule of classes and gigging. BUT I am SO glad I went through with this. The difference in my appearance is great. It's not noticeable to many people because it wasn't a huge change, but it's noticeable to me, and that's all I wanted. The best part is that my teeth are finally straight and they touch! It's really nice to not be able to stick my tongue out when my teeth are fully shut. I get my braces off in a couple weeks and I could not be more excited. I will do another post then, but for now, here are some before and afters! Befores are on the left, afters on the right.